Hun Sen is a wily survivor of Cambodian politics and the wider tumult across Southeast Asia over the last half-a-century. Born to rice farmers in a province heavily bombed during the secret U.S. war in Cambodia and Laos, he became a soldier for the Khmer Rouge, whose murderous regime from 1975 to 1979 killed about a quarter of the population.

Thailand has requested Cambodia to move a bilateral meeting of senior security officials next week — considered crucial to de-escalating border tensions following deadly clashes — from Phnom Penh to a neutral location.